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Living in Oblivion

Play trailer Poster for Living in Oblivion R 1995 1h 30m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Independent film director Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi) is making his first feature. Everything that can go wrong does: the rebellious catering crew refuses to replace spoiled milk, his actors are flaky and getting an unspoiled take is nearly impossible. Tension between lead actress Nicole (Catherine Keener) and actor Chad (James LeGros), who have just slept together, contributes to the many problems on set. As money and time run out, Nick struggles to complete his film.
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Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion

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Critics Consensus

Living in Oblivion dives into the folly of filmmaking with a sharp satire that sends up indie cinema while working as an entertaining independent picture in its own right.

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Critics Reviews

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Manohla Dargis Spin 04/18/2022
A ten-minute joke stretched to near exhaustion. Go to Full Review Anthony Lane The New Yorker 01/10/2022
Slight but smart, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Go to Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly 09/07/2011
A-
A hip indie version of Truffaut's Day for Night, Living in Oblivion celebrates the very act of filmmaking as grand folly, a triumph of absurdist heroism. Go to Full Review Quentin Crisp Christopher Street 04/21/2022
I cannot praise Living In Oblivion too highly, but I doubt that it will make fifty million dollars the moment it is shown. Go to Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com 02/27/2022
FOUR STARS
Tom DeCillo's hilarious comedy about the pain in the ass of independent filmmaking circa 1995 is a hoot. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Creative Loafing 11/28/2015
3/4
The segment in which Nick (Steve Buscemi) attempts to film a dream sequence (not unlike the famous one from TV's Twin Peaks) featuring a dwarf named Tito (Peter Dinklage) is worth the rental/purchase price alone. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Scott E Dec 13 Unusual, fun, not particularly deep, enjoyable to watch. See more Cameron B @CameronLand Oct 1 Slight but smart, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. See more john h Jun 1 Living In Oblivion is a 1995 comedy about a director struggling to pull his cast and crew together to make his film. The cinematography is satisfying; the comedic set mess-ups are almost cliche but surprisingly a realistic possibility and performances by the entire cast is beyond entertainingly engaging. See more Jonathan B 02/05/2025 I’m giving this 5 stars because it’s rather brilliant and the best movie ever made about being a director, specifically. But being a director myself (and in the DGA), it’s a 100 minute PTSD episode wrapped in a nice package. It was horrifying watching this thing, frankly. I’ve had every single nightmare occur on set that happened in this movie, from romantic entanglements off set between cast and crew to an obstinate lead actor to the usual technical issues, and probably 10x more than that. So I didn’t find this a “hilarious comedy” at all, it’s probably funny to everyone else, but I found it a horror movie about my life basically. It made me realize this must be how making almost any movie really goes, it’s not just me. If you want to know what it’s like to direct, watch this thing. Trust me, it’s perfectly accurate. This stuff ALL happens, and worse. See more BowTangey M @BowTangey 11/22/2024 I had not heard of the film, and was wonderfully surprised by this quirky look at the nitty gritty of indie filmmaking. The cast is full of ringers, led by Steve Buscemi and Catherine Keener. See more Alejandro E @Alex970 09/08/2024 Steve Buscemi en unos de sus papeles más notorios, aunque poco conocido. El lado ameno del cine independiente y las dificultades del mismo, desde la óptica del cine independiente. Puede que no sea del agrado de todos, pero vale la pena conocerla. See more Read all reviews
Living in Oblivion

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Cast & Crew

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Tom DiCillo

Director

Steve Buscemi

Nick Reve

Catherine Keener

Nicole Springer

Dermot Mulroney

Wolf

Danielle von Zerneck

Wanda

James Le Gros

Chad Palomino

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Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion (1995) Living in Oblivion (1995) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Independent film director Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi) is making his first feature. Everything that can go wrong does: the rebellious catering crew refuses to replace spoiled milk, his actors are flaky and getting an unspoiled take is nearly impossible. Tension between lead actress Nicole (Catherine Keener) and actor Chad (James LeGros), who have just slept together, contributes to the many problems on set. As money and time run out, Nick struggles to complete his film.
Director
Tom DiCillo
Producer
Michael Griffiths, Marcus Viscidi
Screenwriter
Tom DiCillo
Distributor
Columbia Tristar, Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
JDI Productions, Lemon Sky Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 17, 1995, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 29, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$48.0K
Runtime
1h 30m
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